Day 24 - Happy New Year!

So 2012 is starting off with a bang.... well lots of them! Folks around here are still shooting off fireworks well into the night. We can't always see them, but they make a racket all over town as they echo in between buildings. We were told that there is a large fireworks factory here and that they are rather inexpensive.

Group Hug!

We had our first visit with the girls for the new year. Today was a great day! The girls were happy to see us and we sure missed them over the weekend. We bought a lighted wand when we were at the festival on the square. We were pretty sure that Lindsay would like it since she liked my little flashlight. And she did! It captured her attention for most of the visit. She didn't particularly like the setting that made sounds, but she liked the blinking lights.

There are all kinds and colors of stockings for kids to wear. This particular pair reminded us of Wonder Bread! :)

Lindsay loves lights.

They are both fascinated with the light wand.

 Shawna hung out with me most of the time. I brought a hairbrush and some tangle spray and fixed her hair with a bow clip. She was cute and the bow matched the shirt she was wearing today. We got some precious giggles from Shawna, too. I was trying to get her to stand up, but she would bend over and try to touch the floor. She would laugh and giggle each time! Lee got some of it on video.

I got out the bubbles today and Shawna really liked them. She would smile and try to reach out and pop them. Another little girl came out and was popping the bubbles too.

I love bubbles!

Toward the end of our visit, Luda, one of the caretakers, was showing us some of the things Lindsay can do. She was pronouncing Lindsay's name to her and trying to get her to repeat it back to her. Finally, Lindsay said it!!! It was so cute! She only did it one time though, but we were super excited to know that she can! We were also able to see that she can understand quite a bit of what's ask of her.  Luda was getting Lindsay to jump, walk, stand up and walk between her and Lee. I think Luda is really working with all the children in the groupa to help them learn to do things on their own. And she really seems to care about all the kids in their house.

As we were preparing to leave, we watched as she was guiding Shawna to the table to sit down for lunch. She was helping her to sit down in the chair with only a little help.

We spent the afternoon shopping around for some shoes or boots for the girls, as well as a stroller. So far,  I haven't been able to find a stroller that doesn't cost a small fortune. I'm going to have to ask around to find some other places to look for one. Right now, I'm really wishing I had brought one from home.

Stephanie and Carrie - In front of the Euro 2012 display.

And here are a couple of pictures from New Year's Eve...

Waiting for fireworks...

"I may look poofy, but I'm warm!"

 Paka!
Carrie & Lee

Day 22 & 23 -

Day 22 - Friday

We had our regular visits with the girls on Friday morning. Lindsay was super-wiggly today and was not interested in trying to sit still. Oh, how I wish we could just let her get down and play on the floor. She really needed to play and work out some of her extra energy. Trying to keep her occupied in such a small visiting area took some creative effort today.

Shawna is always her content little self. I was able to get her to stand up for about 5-10 minutes and give her legs a little bit of a workout.

I also took the chance to pull off their shoes and trace their feet so I can have a better idea of what size shoes to buy for them. Lindsay was wearing a different pair of shoes that were just of the edge of being too small. They were a size 22. Another day she was wearing some tennis shoes that were a size 5. Shawna's feet are almost the same size. I think I'm going to aim for a size 23 or size 6.

Stephanie and I are planning to go shopping at a local mall on Monday, in an attempt to find some shoes for all our girls, as well as looking for strollers.

Didn't get any good pictures today, so I'll have to get some more on Monday.

This evening, we decided to go up to Freedom Square with two other families and check out the Holiday Festival that they have up there. There were all kinds of carnival rides, a huge Christmas tree, stage and booths to buy toys and foods. A light snow had started falling about 5pm, and by the time we got to the square, it was really snowing. We had dinner nearby and by the time we came back outside, there was about 1.5-2 inches of snow! It was beautiful!!! I know our son will be envious!


Day 23 - New Year's Eve!

We plan to visit the girls mainly on weekdays, giving our driver the weekends off. With the holiday here, we decided to take a day and stay in. The snow was already beginning to melt when we awoke this morning and it was foggy. It was so pretty the night before. It just felt like a stay-at-home kind of day.  But we both really missed seeing the girls today.

By the way, the weather here has had us joking that we feel like home. In Texas we say, if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes and it will change. Well, here you just have to go to bed, wake up and it will be different! We never know if we'll wake up to cold, very cold, foggy, sunny, windy, wet or dry, or some combination of the sort. The weather forecasts never seem to get it right here, either.

We had planned to meet our friends up at the Freedom Square again so we could watch the fireworks display for New Year's. We ventured out on the subway and made it there at 11:00pm. The fog had lifted a little bit, but before the fireworks started, the fog was returning. The display went on as planned, but even though we were standing on one end of the square, and fireworks were on the other end of the square, we could not see the big, pretty ones, up high. We could only see the fireworks that were lower to the ground. It was a shame, because they did it up big!

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR from Eastern Europe! We pray that the coming year will be filled with exciting and wonderful blessings for you and your family!

As we head off to bed, folks are shooting fireworks off all over town. With all the tall buildings, it echoes all over and sounds like a warzone out

Day 21 - Fun times!

We had a great visit today! They both greeted us with smiles and giggles when we arrived. We had sunshine today, but chose to stay indoors so we didn't have to use the big green snowsuits again. :)

Lindsay was in an especially good mood today. She spent quite a bit of time in my arms as we danced to some music that was playing in the other room. Then I hummed some Disney songs and we danced a little more. She really liked it and she would rest her head on my shoulder at times. It was sweet!

I also brought a hand-held mirror with my today that I found in the apartment. She had a good time watching herself in the mirror while she was making babbling sounds. She liked to put her face close to the glass and fog the mirror and watch it disappear. I think this will make a good speech therapy tool...

Lindsay making faces in the mirror.

Shawna was her regular, sweet little self. They had changed her diaper right when we got there, and I was surprised that they didn't put the stockings back on her legs. Her little legs are so tiny and thin. We'll have to start some physical therapy when we get home to put some muscle on them and get her walking and running. She wasn't too interested in the mirror, but she enjoyed the bead necklace again.

Our visit seemed to pass quickly today.

We did have one fun highlight to the visit today. As we were visiting, Lee had Lindsay in his lap and I had Shawna in mine. Lee began singing an old church song, The Rock of My Soul "and the bosom of Abraham," with Lindsay. She was smiling and enjoying it. Well, there was another lady's voice that joined him in singing the song. Lee thought I was singing along and then he realized I wasn't. He looks around to see one of the nannies coming down the stairs with a child and she was the one singing along with him in Russian!!! She was smiling from ear to ear to be singing along with him!  I think Lee scored some points!  She's one of the really sweet nannies, too. We could tell that she really cares for the kids there.

It was a good day!

Paka, paka!

Day 20 - We had Sunshine,

But it was a little too windy to enjoy it with the kids. :(

A sunny day! Two churches we see from our apartment window.

We arrived today with a beautiful sunny day. We had Edward ask the nannies if we could take the girls outside for a ride in the strollers. After a bit of a discussion, they agreed that we could, but only for 30 minutes. We waited about 20 minutes, and one of the nannies came out to bundle the girls up in a couple of new, bright-neon-green, sub-arctic snow suits. Then add the hats and boots. The thermometer on the car said it was 4C degrees outside (39.2F degrees). With your coat zipped up, it was actually a pretty, nice day outside.

Once the girls were bundled, we put on our own coats and headed outside. Lindsay started crying - a REAL cry, tears and all! That's the first time we've ever seen her cry. Even when she hit the back of her head on the little bench, she barely flinched. We knew something was up. We thought maybe she was upset and that it would remedy once we got outdoors. Well, no dice. She cried more, and the tears continued. So Lee picked her up and took her back to the room. They undressed her snow suit and adjusted the shoulder straps since they seemed tight. She settled down and Lee and Lindsay headed back outside. She began crying again.  We were at a loss. Something was obviously upsetting her. We all went back in again, and I removed the snow suit again and she started to calm down. It was off and she was still upset, so I was able to love on her and soothe her and she finally was back to her usual smiling self.  All we can think is that the suit was too restrictive or something. I know if I was in that whole get-up, I would have been clawing to get out of it, too!

While Lindsay was upset, Shawna didn't seem to mind the big green snowsuit, so we had stayed out a few minutes longer than Lee and Lindsay did. But the wind was strong from the North and made it feel much colder than it was. She also didn't seem too excited about the swing. So we headed back in and met up with Lee and Lindsay as they were coming back outside for the second time.

With all the commotion, we didn't get any pictures in the Incredible Hulk snow jackets.

So, our outside  adventure for the day kind of flopped. But it still worked out well. While we were playing inside, the other adopting family shared their markers and coloring book with Lindsay. She was scribbling on the paper with a yellow marker! So she does seem to have a concept for coloring. I was happy to see that.

Here's Lindsay cleaning the side of the lockers after we had used the wet wipe to clean the markers off her hands!

For some reason, most of the kids in the groupa house had to go for a brief visit to the orphanage doctor. The nannies took Shawna and a few others over to the doctors office and brought them back pretty quick. Not sure what that was all about. She seems fine and doesn't look to be getting sick at all. Maybe just a check-up. I don't know....

Here's another cute picture from Tuesday's visit. Shawna was standing for a few minutes!

Hope you have a wonderful day!
Paka, paka!

Day 18 & 19

It's way too late for my sleepy head, so I'll have to add pictures in the morning.... sorry.

Day 18 - Monday the 26th

Monday was a good visit again with Shawna and Lindsay! Lindsay is really becoming more and more responsive to Lee singing to her.

We're getting more and more giggles out of Shawna, too. She is incredibly ticklish!  So many times I'll just move my hand over her back or reach around her ribs to pick her up a bit, and she giggles because I've tickled her on accident. She has such a sweet, quiet little laugh!

Another adopting family has joined us here in the city. They are adopting from the same orphanage so we will be able to share the costs of the driver with them for most of the days we visit. We also get the chance to spend some time and make some new friends while we're our adventures here.

We were able to Skype back home and visit with all of our kids that way. We got to see them open Christmas presents at Grandma's house and that was special for us.

Still no official news on our court date. We'll let you know as soon as we find out.


Day 19 - Tuesday the 27th

Remember the movie Groundhog Day? I've read other families describe it, where you get into a new routine of life over here.

We get up each day, go visit the girls, we come back, find lunch, maybe venture out for dinner, stay up way too late watching Lost on the computer, and getting up and doing it all over again! But don't get me wrong... I'm not complaining one bit. We have a new temporary routine created, and it's kind of fun that it's one where we're together! At home we have our routines, but Lee goes to work, I stay home and homeschool, and we come back together for a little while in the evenings. Here, we're together the whole time. Now, maybe we are newlyweds once again, and maybe it will get old after 6 weeks, but we're having a great time! We miss our kids, A WHOLE LOT! But it's giving us a fun chance to hang out and do stuff together.... like getting totally sucked in to the prime time soap opera known as LOST. We have all the episodes on the laptop, so now we hurry home to watch and see what happens next! We've watched on full season in only a week! LOL!

Our visits today went well, as they usually do.  Our driver tried again to see if we might be able to take the kids over to a visiting area in the big building. But, it was not to be. We learned that it is under quarantine for chicken pox. One of our girls has had chicken pox, and the other has not. We agreed we'd much rather continue to make due in the little entry way than risk chicken pox.

If you think of us, please pray that there might be a little sunshine in our weather. If it is sunny, the nanny's are more willing to let us take the girls outside in the strollers. We'd love to get them out for some fresh air once in a while.

We spent our afternoon helping out again with the orphan ministry team. We plan to go back and help them again tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!
 Paka!

Day 17 - Merry Christmas!

We hope that you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

May we all remember the birth of our Savior and the gifts and blessings that God has given us in our lives.


Merry Christmas!
Lee and Carrie

Day 16 - Merry Christmas Eve!

We began our day with a visit to Shawna and Lindsay today since it's Christmas Eve. It was cold outside and we spent the last portion of our visit in the entry area with the Italian family that is here, too. We had a fun time ending our visit singing Christmas carols in English and Italian! Lindsay sure loves it when Lee sings to her. She would get close and watch his face and listen as he sang.

We were also able to interest Lindsay in the doodle board for a little bit.

We'll be spending Christmas Day with some new friends here in the city. They are having a Christmas Service with a potluck lunch to follow. I'm planning to make deviled eggs to take for that. With a little help, I managed to find a good mayonnaise and mustard at the small grocery store around the corner.

We went this afternoon to a Christmas Eve service with Brenda and Willard and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The music was amazing and the message was timely. The music was in Russian and English selections, and even one song in French. The message was preached in English and translated into Russian. Pastor's message was on God's blessings and he used the text in 1 Chr 4:9-10 about Jabez. He spoke about living a life that sets the foundation for God's blessings.

We sure miss our kids back home, but we know that they are well cared for and that they are having a good time.  I would say that the hardest part of our trip is being away from from our other kids. We've lived internationally before, so we're not having much trouble with culture shock or adjusting to the different ways that things are done around here. Each of us are is trying to learn a new word or two each day.

I hope that we can catch up with all the kids tomorrow and Skype with them for a little while.

May everyone have a blessed Christmas this year!

Paka!
Carrie